Drag bucket



Sept. 16, 1952' G, G. NOR"; 2,610,753

page BUCKET Filed Oct. 11, 1948 2 W 1 INVENTOR Grow 6.17am

Sept. 16, 1952 I G. G. MORIN 2,610,153

I DRAG BUCKET Filed 0m n, 1948 2'$I-IBETSSl-EET 2 INVENTOR Gzanqz Mon/n BY 5% #SRK s Patented Sept. 16, 1952 J:

1 Massachusetts signorto Morin- Manufacturing Company, In-'.

corporated, Holyoke, Mass a corporation of Application October 11, 1948, Serial No. 53,789

This invention relates to an improvement in earth removal devices and more particularly to power operated hoes and dragline buckets.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a construction which will permit a hoe or dragline bucket tobe unloaded at any desired point in the arc of its swing'or angular movement beneath the crane boom to which it is attached or from which it is suspended; to give the operator a more accurate control over excavating operations, and to permit a wider range ofpositions of the crane and the trucks to be loaded, than is possible with presently available hoes and dragline buckets.

Other and further objects and advantages residing in the details of the construction will be made apparent in the following specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings, is a Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a power hoe embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is aside elevational view of a hoe bucket, on a larger scale, the parts being in loading or loaded position; M

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in unloading position; I

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2; I

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, on a largerscale, substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a power crane equipped with a dragline bucket embodying the invention;

Fig. 7 is-a side elevational view, :on a larger scale, the parts being in loaded position;

Fig. 8 isv a view similar to Fig. '7 but with the parts in bucket dumping relation;

Fig. 9 is an end elevational view of the bucket looking from the left of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a detail plan view partly in section, showing the releasable connection between the bucket and frame; and s Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view substantially on line H-H of Fig. 10.

In Fig. l which shows the invention applied to a power hoe, I indicates the crane or boom to which stick 2 is pivoted at 3. The usual power operated cable 4 is provided for raising and lowering the boom and stick. The specific boom and stick arrangements are: immaterial and form no part of the present invention.

To the lower end of the stick is attached a frame which comprises side members 5, an outer cross member 6 and an inner cross member I, the latter being spaced outwardly from the ad- I 2 Claims. (01. 214-138) 2 1 jacent ends of the side members to provide the latter with free end porti0ns'8 to which control cables 9 are attached as indicated at H]. The lower end of the stick 2 is pivoted at ll between side members l2 of brackets l3 which are bolted at I4 to the center portion of cross member I. Spaced links [5 are pivoted at one end to a bracket I6 as at ll, bracket I6 being secured as by bolts l8 to cross member 6. Theoppos'ite ends of links 15 are'provided with a plurality of openings by which they are bolted as at 2| to opposite sides of the'stick, the angular relation of the frame to the stick being adjustable by selection of the appropriate bolt openings. I 1 i The hoe bucket, which as shown comprises side members 22 and a bottom member 23 curved upwardly as at 24 to close the outer end of the bucket, is positioned within the frame 'andpivotally connected at its upper outer corners to the outer ends of side members 5 as indicated at 25;

A catch member '26 is welded or otherwise secured to each side of the bucket in position to be engaged by latches 21 .when the upper edges of the bucket are within the frame as best. shown in Fig.5. The latches p21 are pivoted at 28 in recesses 29 formed in the extending end portions 8 of frame members 5 and are normally held in position to engage the catches 26 by springs .30. The members 12 of bracket 13 support a bear-'- ing 3| in which is mounted a rock shaft 32. Short cables 33 each have one end attachedas at .34 to the upper ends of the latches 21,.the other ends being wrapped around rock shaft .32 and connected as at 35 to the shaft. A lever arm 36 is secured to shaft 32,: the free end of the lever being connected to a cable 3Textendingto the cab 33 which houses the conventional power plant, not shown, which furnishes power foroperating the hoe and driving the chassis upon which the crane and other parts are supported. .-By the described construction the hoe is capable of operation in the usual manner but with the added important advantage'that the contents of the bucket may be dumped at' any position of its movement/by pulling in the line 31 to release the catch. When the catch is released the bucket swings to the position shown in Fig; 3. The bucket is returned to latchedposition by gravity or by bringing it in contact with the groundin the normal loading operation. i 'In Figs. 6 to 1'1 inclusive the invention is shown applied to-a draglin bucket. In Fig.6 the" bucket is shown as suspended by a lifting cable 40 from the boom H of a power crane, the boom being raised and lowered by the usual crane cable 42.

Cable is connected to a block 43. Cables 44 connect the block 43 to the outer ends of spaced side frame members 45, the members 45 being connected adjacent their inner ends by an arched cross member 46. The inner ends of side members 45 are connected to a block 41 by cables 48, the block 41 being connected to the power operated dragline 49. A cable connected to block 41 passes over a pulley 5| carried by block 43 and has its other end connected as at 52 to the center of the arched cross member 46.

The bucket comprises side members 53 and a bottom member 54 curved upwardly at 55 to close the outer end of the bucket. The bucket is positioned between the frame members 45 and the side members 53 of the bucket are pivoted, as at 56, to the members 45 adjacent the outer ends of the latter and inwardly of the'point of connection of cables 44. The inner ends of the sides of the bucket are connected by an arched cross member 51 which, whenthe bucket is in loading or earryingrposition as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 9 nests within the arched member 46 of the frame.

Arched member 51 is provided with av latch member 59 formed with an opening 60 adapted to receive (Fig. 10) a catch pin 6| slidable in a boss 62 carried by arch member 46. Pin 6| is slotted at 63 outwardly of boss 62 to receive the end of a lever 64 pivoted intermediate its ends to member 46 at 65. The other end of lever 64 is connected at 66 to a short chain 61 which in turn is connected at 68 to a cable 69 which extends to the cab I0. Pin 6| is normally held in position to engage catch 59 by a spring 15 positioned in a-housing l6 and compressed between the bottom of the housing and lever 64.

As in the form previously described the bucket can be unloaded in the usual way or at any point by pulling on line 68 to release the catch as in Fig. ,8. The bucket is returned to latched position by gravity or by bringing the bucket into contact with the ground in the usual loading operation.

Drag buckets, whether carried by a stick as in the hoe type previously described or suspended from a crane by flexible cables as in the dragline type just described are characterized by the fact that they are loaded by being drawn inwardly toward the base of the supporting crane. In the conventional constructions heretofore employed such suckets have further been characterized by the fact that they could be unloaded only when the supporting means was moved to a predetermined position. In the case of a hoe the stick had to be swung outwardly until the bucket was tilted at an angle to permit the contacts of the bucket to slide out while in the dragline type the connections are usually such that the bucket discharges when it is suspended in a position vertically below the end of the boom and the dragline is slacked. This characteristic has in both cases limited the position in which trucks to be loaded from the buckets can be positioned and also the position from which the crane carrying vehicle can be operated.

By the present invention these limitations are removed since the bucket in either form is pivoted to the frame and held in loaded relation to the frame by the latch. By releasing the latch the bucket will pivot to discharge its load in any direction to which the frame may be moved.

Not only does the present invention make possible a more efiicient placing of the earth moving machine and the trucks it serves but simplifies the operation since the bucket can be more quickly positioned and unloaded. Furthermore it widens the field of use of the machine. For example a trench can be backfllled by a dragline bucket or hoe positioned at the side of the trench opposite the pile of filling material, the bucket load of fill being simply drawn toward the trench and when the bucket reaches the trench the latch is released by the control line and on further dragging movement of the bucket its contents are dumped into the trench.

What I claim is:

1. A drag'bucket for earth removal and the like which comprises a bucket member having spaced side members, a bottom member and one end member rigidly connected together to form a unitary bucket open at its top and one end, the other end being closed,"a frame having spaced longitudinal side members between which the bucket is positioned, the ends of the side members adjacent the closed end of the bucket being pivoted to the side members of the bucket adjacent said closed end, a frame cross member connecting the ends of the'side frame members adjacent the open end of the bucket, a bucket lifting member connected to said frame at three points whereby substantial tipping of the frame relative to the lifting means is prevented, a member connected to said frame adjacent the open end of the bucket for imparting swinging movement to the frame, bucket and lifting means, latch means carried by the frame for releasably connecting the open end of the bucket to the frame and means operable independently of both said bucket lifting member and swing imparting member to release said latch in any position of movement of the frame and bucket.

2. A drag bucket for earth removal and the like as set forth in claim 1 in which the lifting means comprises the stick of a power operated hoe, said frame being adjustably connected to the lower end of said stick and said means for releasably connecting the open end of the bucket to the frame'comprising catch members carried by the side of the bucket adjacent the open end thereof, a rock shaft carried by the frame,'latch members pivoted to the frame in position to engage said catch members when the bucket is in load carrying position within the frame, springs normally holding the latch members in catch engaging position, means connecting the latches to the rock shaft and means for rocking said shaft to release the latches.

GEORGE G. MORIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

